Geneva, Switzerland, 24 May 2013 – This call was made at a Side Meeting to the World Health Organization’s (WHO) World Health Assembly in Geneva, Switzerland. The meeting entitled: Patient Engagement in Medication Safety, was hosted by the Government of Australia, the International Alliance of Patients’ Organizations (IAPO) and was held in collaboration with the WHO Patient Safety Programme (PSP).

Geneva, Switzerland,  May 2013 – The International Alliance of Patients’ Organizations (IAPO) today urged the World Health Organization (WHO) Member States to involve patients in strategies to tackle the proliferation of counterfeit medication products. This request was central to an intervention made by IAPO on Substandard/spurious/falsely-labelled/falsified/counterfeit medical products at the Sixty-sixth session of the WHO World Health Assembly in Geneva, Switzerland. The following is taken from IAPO’s statement:

Geneva, Switzerland, 24 May 2013 – The International Alliance of Patients’ Organizations (IAPO) today urged the World Health Organization (WHO) to define universal health coverage and support countries in its implementation worldwide. This request was central to an intervention made by Carol Bennett, IAPO Board Member, on universal health coverage at the Sixty-sixth session of the WHO World Health Assembly in Geneva, Switzerland. The following is taken from IAPO’s statement:

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Geneva, Switzerland, 21 May 2013 – The International Alliance of Patients’ Organizations (IAPO) today urged World Health Organization (WHO) Member States to adopt a patient-centred approach in WHO’s Twelfth General Programme of Work (GPW12). This request was central to an intervention made by Carol Bennett, IAPO Board Member, at the Sixty-sixth session of the WHO World Health Assembly in Geneva, Switzerland. The following is taken from IAPO’s statement:
 

Shodona joined the Latin America and Caribbean Regional Programme at IAPO in April. She assists with Communications, Research, Capacity building and translation.

Shodona is currently reading for an MSc in Globalization and Latin American Development and works for a Medical Research charity.  Her interest in International Development and Human Rights, together with extensive travel and work experience throughout the Americas and the Caribbean drew her to this position at IAPO.

Patient Engagement in Medication Safety - 23 May 2013 - Geneva, Switzerland 

IAPO is delighted to announce that it is hosting a joint side meeting at the World Health Organization's (WHO) 66th World Health Assembly with the Government of Australia and WHO Patient Safety Programme. The meeting will take place on Thursday 23 May 2013 at 12:30-14:00 in Room VII (7), Palais des Nations, Geneva, Switzerland.

The meeting aims to:

• Raise awareness of the importance of patient engagement and empowerment in improving healthcare safety and quality
• Share country experiences of patient and family engagement
• Serve as a call to action to promote patient and family engagement in the area of medication safety

Confirmed speakers include:

• Sir Liam Donaldson, WHO Envoy for Patient Safety
• Dr Chris Baggoley, Chief Medical Officer, Australia
• Carol Bennett, IAPO Governing Board Member and CEO of Consumers Health Forum, Australia
• Ed Kelley, Coordinator and Head of Strategic Programmes for WHO Patient Safety
• Jo Groves, IAPO CEO

If you would like more information about the side meeting, or would like to attend the side meeting, please email: rachel@patientsorganizations.org.

Update: IAPO and the benefit-risk of medicines in Europe
Since 2009, IAPO has been a partner in a European project, the Pharmacoepidemiological Research on Outcomes of Therapeutics by a European Consortium (PROTECT). PROTECT aims to strengthen the monitoring of the benefit-risk of medicines. Here, we share an update on this project and how you can be involved.

WP4: New methods for data collection from consumers
The overall objective of WP4 is to explore the feasibility and added value of modern methods for collecting data directly from consumers.

Find out how to be more involved in IAPO’s work through the IAPO Member Induction webinar. The webinar includes an overview of IAPO’s history, staff and Board, current activities and opportunities for members. This will provide useful information for new members as well as those that would like a refresher on IAPO’s work. 

Next Member Induction dates: 9 May at 15.00 BST and repeated on 10 May at 08.00 BST. IAPO members can register here.

The Economist's second annual Healthcare in Africa conference was held in Cape Town from 19 to 20 February 2013. The conference exchanged best models in healthcare and generated dialogue and open debate about the status of healthcare in Africa. This year’s conference had one perspective in mind; the patient. While patient-centred healthcare approaches are becoming mainstream elsewhere in the world, they have had limited success in Africa. This conference sought to change this by bringing influential stakeholders together to analyse how African governments, providers of health services, the wider healthcare industry, patient-led groups and international and local aid organizations can collaborate to put the patient at the centre of African healthcare.